Aussie comic Magda comes out on TV

The day after comic actor Magda Szubanski announced publicly she was gay, she called for greater respect to be shown to homosexuals.Cade Mooney

MAGDA Szubanski has admitted to having suicidal thoughts while struggling with her homosexuality as a teen and has rejected claims by tennis great Margaret Court that sexual preference was a choice for people.

The day after the comic actor announced publicly she was gay, Szubanski called for greater respect to be shown to homosexuals, although she said Australia was overwhelmingly a tolerant society on the issue.

Court, a former world No.1 tennis player and now a pastor with the Perth-based evangelical Victory Life Centre, last month claimed people chose to be gay.

She later claimed homosexuality was often the result of sexual abuse.

Szubanski today said while she respected Court's sporting achievements, she did not hold the same view on Court's opinions on homosexuality.